The building, owned by the Tice Family Partnership, had once been on the market, but in 2004 there were no takers for the asking price of $1.2 million. The neighbors had said that loitering and vagrancy were a problem at the building which had been boarded up for some number of years. It's missing a lot of details please fill in what I'm missing below in the comments, and I'll work the edits in to complete the story.Ī vacant pinball parlor on South University, once the home of Campus Pinball and later Pinball Pete's, burned last Saturday. Here's a partial timeline of pinball in Ann Arbor with some personal memories mixed in. Hotels near Pinball Petes, Ann Arbor on Tripadvisor: Find 5,743 traveler reviews, 3,227 candid photos, and prices for 603 hotels near Pinball Petes in Ann Arbor, MI. I came to Ann Arbor for the first time in 1976 and played a few games of pinball at Mickey Rat's, and then spent a lot of quarters during college playing pinball around town from 1985 to 1995. Tice added, “I don’t believe the fact that the building is gone is going to change their mind.The former home of a longtime staple for Ann Arbor-area youth, Pinball Pete's, went up in flames last weekend and the takes a look back at it's colorful history. Tice said the building was so run down and out of code that any new property owners would have likely demolished it. Tice would not disclose who the developer is. “The value is in the land.”įor the past five months, Tice has been negotiating a sales agreement for the former Pinball Pete’s property with an undisclosed developer, but he said the developer was more interested in the land than the building itself. “That building had no or very little value as it was,” Tice said. Tice said he would have torn the building down years ago if the city’s new zoning regulations had been set. The zoning changes, approved last month by the Ann Arbor City Council, were created to implement new design standards for downtown Ann Arbor, restructure the city’s parking system and help simplify the land development proposal process. “Now that it’s voted on, I anticipate a lot of properties being sold or redeveloped.” “My brother and I have been waiting for five years to know,” Tice said. He said that previous plans were stalled as he waited for the final passage of the city’s A2D2 zoning initiative, since it would determine what types of property could fill the space. Tice, who also owns Pizza House, was less clear about what would replace the former Pinball Pete’s property. “It’s all weather related - if we were to get a blizzard for three days it would set us three days back, or more.” “In terms of a finite ending, it’s hard to say since this is the worst weather time,” Beal said. 6 - the same day students return to class - the process could be delayed if any major snowstorms hit the area in the next few weeks. Though construction is set to finish on Jan. “We know the importance of getting it done.” “We’re going to get it done as quickly as possible,” Beal said. 26, when construction will take place every day of the week. 14, but heavy equipment will not be brought in until Dec. To this end, smaller components of the teardown will begin on Dec. “That was the city of Ann Arbor’s suggestion, and we were happy to comply with it,” Beal said. Tice - who has been in negotiations to sell the building for the past five months - said though the fire recently occurred, he has been waiting for years for city approval to demolish the building.Ī construction company JC Beal Construction was later hired, and the company’s president Stewart Beal met with John Brink, project manager for the city of Ann Arbor, to discuss the demolition’s timeline.īrink, who manages street permit guidelines and processing times, said the city’s only requirement was that the bulk of the demolition be done over the University’s winter break, in an effort to minimize any disruptions or inconveniences. Shortly after the fire, Tice said he received a letter from city officials acknowledging the incident and inquiring about what his plans were for the property. A court hearing for one of the suspects is set to begin tomorrow. 3 and have been charged with arson of private property. Two men, who are thought to be homeless, were arrested in connection with the blaze Dec. 24 fire that ravaged the abandoned building on South University Avenue took firefighters from two departments hours to fully extinguish and temporarily displaced hundreds of residents from the neighboring University Towers apartment complex. What follows after the demolition, however, is still up in the air. But, based on advice from city officials, major demolition won’t begin until after Christmas, when most students have left campus. 14 and is expected to continue through Jan. Dennis Tice, owner of the former Pinball Pete’s property that was charred beyond repair in late October, said demolition of the property will begin on Dec.
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